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Local products

Barley was one of the oldest crops in the island. Seeds and storage vessels have been found in the excavation of Akrotiri. Up until after the war, most of the people fed on barley bread or barley bread rolls, that had been kneaded and cooked every month due to lack in fire wood and use of vine branches and fig wood.Straw was the basic food for mules and donkeys. At present day, barley is used for animal food production and only a small part is threshed.

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Traditional threshing and winnowing. In the beginning of summer the threshing fields came alive. Farmers brought their barley there for threshing and gathering its seed. Some of them are still in operation. Barley is laid in the field and animals driven in a circular way by their owners step on it. After that the seed is separated from the straw. When threshing is finished then winnowing takes place. They stand against the weather and using a fork separate the straw from the "kontalo" (thick parts of the barley plant) and from the seed.

*Extract from Fira's High School assignment in Santorini of the past. Proffessor in charge: Christopher Mindrinos.